Maison Des Amis, which means House of Friends, sits at 1050 Convention Street in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and you'll find it's a place that gives shelter, support, and a sense of community for adults who are homeless and living with mental illness. This facility's a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, running since 1989, and it gets help from rents, grants, and donations to keep things going, and you'll notice that residents there, both men and women, stay in dormitory-style housing, so it feels communal and pretty simple. The care team has 14 staff members, and they help with medication management, scheduling rides to doctor visits, and help folks learn skills so they can handle self-care or even some work, which is important when you're starting over.
Maison Des Amis believes friendship and community matter a lot, so they've got things like organized library visits, devotional activities, movie nights, daily events, and chances for people to pitch in with chores like cleaning and lawn mowing or unloading donations, which helps folks feel useful and involved in their home. Residents get help with daily living-things like bathing, dressing, medication, and sometimes just getting around-with 24-hour supervision to keep everyone safe. There are furnished rooms, indoor and outdoor common spaces, emergency alert systems, wheelchair-accessible spots, and a dining room with scheduled meals-including options for people who need special diets-and the staff can help coordinate with outside healthcare providers to keep everyone's medical needs covered. Laundry and housekeeping, even dry cleaning, are done for the residents, and there's staff who can move people in and help with transportation and parking, which comes in handy for appointments or outings.
Security is in place to keep people safe, both from online attacks and in daily life, and there's a real focus on residents attending their medical or social service appointments, since the aim is to support health and well-being as much as give someone a bed at night. The gardens, walking paths, and scheduled social activities encourage people to be a part of things and to keep their spirits up, and the overall approach centers on stability so folks have a safe place to stay and time to form friendships. The community's well regarded, earning positive reviews from people who've lived there and their families, and Maison Des Amis remains focused on its mission to provide comfort, safety, and support for some of the most vulnerable people in Baton Rouge who need help getting back on their feet.
